Spirit Truth

In Through the Mists – Chapter 13, Two Illustrations, Following a visit  to a family, who regularly engaged spirit communication and physical interactions with spirits, Cushna explains to Aphraar how religious beliefs can prevent spirit communication, a natural part of life. He outlines the hypocrisy in Christian beliefs regarding God, spirit life and spirit communication with Earth. Cushna also explains the attractions and bonds that exist between people on Earth and people in the spirit world.

….”No one needs to be told that creed and reason are at variance; it was this that kept me outside the church all my life.”

“One of the most flagrant[1] illustrations of this is to be found in the position the Church has almost universally assumed in the matter of spirit communion. It is taught as an article of the faith that evil spirits possess, and exercise the power of communicating with man; they can appear to, converse, and enter into compacts[2] with, and even take possession of the bodies of those who are in affinity[3] with themselves. But holy men and women who have passed from Earth have no such powers or privileges afforded them, the permission for intercourse in their case having been withdrawn long ago, because the mission of such had been fulfilled.

Directly you bring your reason to bear upon such a doctrine, you explode[4] it; without saying anything about the changeless character of God, which must ever be borne[5] in mind. It makes Him to be arbitrary[6] and unjust in the most cruel sense, in granting to His enemies advantages which He withholds from His friends; it gives enormous facilities for temptation to the powers of darkness, but denies the same liberty of action to the ministering spirits attendant upon the children of light; it opens wider avenues in the road to destruction, while it closes up one of the brightest paths which lead to life; yet all the while they say ‘God is no respecter[7] of persons’ (Bible Acts 10:34), that ‘He willeth not the death of a sinner’ (Bible John 6:38, 1 Samuel 2:25 & Hebrews 6:18), that ‘He will save to the uttermost all who will come to Him’ (Bible Hebrews 7:25), but they are not able to see that their theology places a great stumbling block in the way of all who try to come.”

“But is it a fact,” I asked, “that evil spirits have equal facilities for communication as the good ones?”

“If you will remember two very simple truths,” he replied, “they will aid you to solve many otherwise mysterious problems. First, there is no bondage[8] of force in any condition of our life. You have already seen illustrations of this. Every soul is free to make its own choice, but they naturally choose that which is most congenial. On Earth the meadows are the natural habitation of the sheep, the water of fishes, and the air of birds; it is not necessary – nor is it attempted – to place any restrictions to prevent any one of them from trespassing on the domain of the other, it being quite sufficient that they are not constitutionally fitted for it. So it is with us; a sinner can no more dwell in the region of the saint than a sheep can soar upwards in company with the eagle.

“The second point for you to remember is: the power of sympathy. This is almost omnipotent[9]. As you have just seen in the case of Lizzie, so it is all through creation, like attracts like. In the absence then of any deterrent[10] force, when this attraction of sympathy has been established, whether it be of a holy or unholy nature, the souls naturally gravitate towards each other; but no soul from our side is ignorant of the fact, that it is individually responsible for whatever results therefrom. With the present erroneous[11] ideas which exist, it is not surprising that the lower and ignorant spirits find the greater attraction to Earth.”

“Then you regard the present state of your communication with Earth as being a somewhat deplorable[12] one?”

“Not by any means. The present time on Earth is characterised by a great thirst for knowledge – there is an earnest spirit of enquiry after truth. In the human soul there has always been a natural craving to rend[13] the veil[14] which hides immortality from view – a craving born of the inspiration which forebodes[15] success. Daring souls, regardless of the anathemas[16] of the Church have pushed the enquiry forward, until the veil has given way and the light is streaming out. But the enquirers, while breaking free from errors in one direction, are generally found to hold with even greater tenacity[17] to others which lie in another direction, so that the attraction they form is not with spirits whom the truth has made entirely free, but lower minds who stand in close affinity with their own desires.

“A word of caution I must give you here, and that is how very necessary it is to draw a distinction between those whom I have termed the lower friends on our side and the lowest. We are not yet, at all events, divided into two classes – good and evil; but the method of division that I have pointed out, naturally suggests almost innumerable grades of conditions, through which it would be quite impossible to draw a dividing line. Now, the class of souls attracted by these enquirers are spiritually in affinity with themselves, but by reason of their life with us, they can teach many truths which will prepare the way for higher and more powerful ministers to follow them. The present outlook, therefore, is not at all a cheerless one, but on the contrary, full of hope and promise.”

[1] Flagrant; blatant, obvious, deliberate

[2] Compacts; an agreement, often one that people make secretly

[3] Affinity; similarity, empathy, attraction

[4] Explode; disprove, discredit, invalidate

[5] Borne; when facts support the conclusions

[6] Arbitrary; based on whim, random, authoritarian

[7] Respecter; someone who treats people according to their rank, status or importance

[8] Bondage; when someone or something controls your life

[9] Omnipotent; all powerful

[10] Deterrent; restraint, prevention, restriction

[11] Erroneous; mistaken, flawed, incorrect

[12] Deplorable; terrible, appalling, shocking

[13] Rend; tear apart

[14] Veil; a layer of something that prevents you from seeing very far

[15] Forebodes; act as an advance warning of something bad

[16] Anathemas; somebody cursed, denounced, or excommunicated by a religious authority

[17] Tenacity; stubbornness, firmness, drive